This chapter is from the book

Introduction

Living a human life, as we have seen, entails a variety of relationships and
membership in a variety of human groups. Both the relationships and the groups
to which we belong typically have a profound influence on our thinking, our
emotions, and our desires. In Chapter 11, we considered the broadest
implications of this fact, especially the implications of sociocentrism, a term
that highlights group-dominated thinking in human life. In this chapter, we will
focus somewhat more narrowly, on the problem of thinking effectively and working
for change in corporate and other organizational structures.

To think effectively in corporate and organizational settings, it is helpful
to consider the logic of these structures and explicitly face the questions one
should ask when operating within them. The more we understand the logic of our
circumstances, the more effectively we can act.

Here is our plan. We will deal with the logic of organizational structures in
some detail first, approaching their potential transformation from a number of
different standpoints, including that of three predictable obstacles: the
struggle for power, group definitions of reality, and bureaucracy. We will also
look at the problem of "misleading success" as well as the relation
between competition, sound thinking, and success. We will spell out some
essential questions each of us should ask when working within a corporate or
organizational setting. Following that, toward the end of the chapter, we will
analyze six hypothetical cases illustrating some of the ways critical thinking
might be applied to decision-making in a corporate or organizational setting. We
will close the chapter with a list of conditions essential for success in
facilitating a culture of critical thinking. The conditions we list suggest ways
that an organization or corporation can begin to organize itself for long-range
success through the use of critical thinking.

There are a number of factors we must take into account in thinking our way
through organizational and corporate structures, factors that interact in
different ways in different settings. Often we lack some of the vital facts we
need to make sound decisions and must therefore judge in terms of probabilities
rather than certainties. Often we cannot answer all the questions we would like
to answer. In any case, critical thinking does not guarantee us the
truthrather, it affords us a way to maximize our best chance for it.